Casket-handle.



J. E. BROOKS.

CASKET HANDLE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 15. 1916.

1,2}. 1,668, Patented Jan. 9, 1917.

UNITED %TATE% FATENT FFIQIE.

JULIUS E. BROOKS, OF EAST HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO SARGENT & COMPANY, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

CASKET-HANDLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 9, 1917.

Application filed June 15, 1916. Serial No. 103,884.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JULIUs E. Bnooxs, a citizen of the United States, residing in East Haven, county of New Haven, and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Casket- Handles, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to casket handles, and more particularly to those of the type wherein a U-shaped bail is supported at its ends by separate attaching plates or socalled socket plates that are adapted to be screwed or otherwise secured to the casket or box.

The invention also has special reference to a device of this character in which the bail and the socket plates are made of sheet metal, and the bail is provided at the ends with laterally extending pins or trunnions that have bearings in bosses struck up from the respective socket plates.

In casket handles of the type specified, it has usually been customary to have the bail separate from the socket plates prior to the application of the handle to the box, and to rely on the attaching screws for the socket plates to hold the parts in assembled position on the box without providing any eflicient means for holding the socket plates on the trunnions of the bail when the device is packed for shipment. As a consequence, a device of this kind is somewhat inconvenient to handle and to apply to the box, and some of the parts are apt to be misplaced or lost.

The object of the present invention is to avoid these drawbacks by providing an eflicient type of handle which can be readily packed and shipped as a unit and applied to the box as a unit.

Another object of the invention is to provide a handle of this kind in which each trunnion is permanently locked in its socket in spite of the fact that it is supported by the socket at one side only of the bail.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a casket handle embodying my improvements; Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof; Fig. 3 is a rear elevation; Fig. l is a section on line 41& of Fig. 2; and Fig. 5 is a detail front view of one of the socket plates.

The handle illustrated herein is of the general type disclosed in Patent No. 1,106,731, to E. R. Sargent, dated August 11, 1914. As shown in that patent, the bail 5 is of approximately U-shape, the intermediate portion being tubular and the respective end portions or hanger arms 6 being semi-tubular. The end of each hanger arm 6 is provided at opposite sides with projecting ears 7 which receive a trunnion or pivot pin 8. These trunnions or pivot pins are adapted to engage attaching plates or socket plates 9. Each socket plate is preferably made of sheet metal and is provided with screw openings 10; and a forwardly extending boss 11 formed on the front of the socket plate is adapted to receive the extremity of the pivot pin or trunnion 8 which protrudes laterally out of the adjacent hanger arm. Each socket plate is reinforced by a reinforcing piece 12, which extends back of the boss 11, and is provided with one or more bearings for the corresponding trunnion, as described in the Sargent patent aforesaid.

In accordance with my invention, I provide means for permanently holding the socket plates 9 in assembled relation to the bail 5 so that the handle can be shipped and applied as a unit. In the particular form shown, the socket plate is constructed in the manner shown in Fig. 5, so as to provide a tongue or lug which engages the adjacent hanger arm in such a way as to lock the bail to the socket plate. As shown in Fig. 5, a U-shaped cut 13 is made in the front wall of the socket plate at a point behind or beneath the hanger arm. This forms a tongue or lug 14 integral with the socket plate, which tongue or lug when struck up from the socket plate is adapted to extend back of that wall of the semi-tubular hanger arm which is adjacent the boss 11. It will be understood that the pin or trunnion 8 is effectively interlocked with the corresponding hanger arm by upsetting said pin or otherwise, and therefore as the tongue let blocks relative movement of the socket plate and bail in a direction lengthwise of the handle the parts cannot become separated.

In the particular example shown, the

tongue 1& is directed horizontally and it lies back of and in line with the trunnion. It is bent outward at an acute angle to the body of the socket plate with its free end disposed toward the end of the handle as awhole. Thus any thrust which is exerted on the tongue or lug 1 1 is exercised in a direction which is substantially lengthwise of said tongue, and consequently, the liability of bending the tongue so as to break it off is reduced to the minimum.

In the particular form shown, the side walls of each hanger arm are reinforced adjacent the trunnion and the locking tongue 14:, but this is not necessary in all cases.

It will be seen that the construction described is very simple and inexpensive, and that the tongues 1 1- eifectively prevent the parts of the handle from becoming separated prior to the application of the handle to the box. After application to the box, the attaching screws which have been passed through the screw holes 10 hold the parts rigidly in the proper relation to each other. The slot 13 may be readily cut in the socket plate during the manufacture of such plate, and it is then an easy matter to press the tongue out of the plane of the socket plate and into blocking relation with respect to the corresponding hanger arm as the parts of the handle are being assembled.

Another advantage of my construction consists in the fact that each tongue 14: serves as an additional brace for the bail when the latter is raised to the operative position. When this occurs, the turned-in upper end portions of the respective hanger arms abut the front surfaces of the respective socket plates, and the inner edges of such turned-in portions bear against the tongues. Thus, the tongues take up and distribute a certain amount of the lifting strain, this strain being imparted to the tongues and to the socket plates in an edgewise direction. a

Without limiting myself to the precise construction shown, I claim:

1. In a casket handle or the like, the combination of a pair of socket plates, each having a forwardly projecting boss with a perforation at one side, a bail having laterally extending trunnions engaging the perfora tions of the respective bosses, said bail having hanger arms located in front of the respective plates, and means of engagement between the respective hanger arms and the respective plates interposed between the upper rear portions of the hanger arms and the front surfaces of the plates for prevent- Copies of this patent may he obtained for ing lateral separation of the bail and plates; substantially as described.

2. In a casket handle, or the like, the

combination of a bail, a socket plate, means 7 bination of a bail, a. socket plate, means providing a bearing for the bail in the socket plate, and means for preventing disconnection of the socket plate and bail, including a locking tongue on the socket plate to engage a part of the bail, said tongue struck up integrally from the socket plate; substantially as described.

4. In a casket handle, or the like, the combination of a bail having a hanger arm of generally semi-tubular form, a trunnion extending through both walls of the hanger arm and directed laterally from said hanger arm at one side, a socket plate having a boss which receives the laterally extending portion of said trunnion, and means interposed between the hanger arm and the front face of the socket plate for preventing disconnection of the bail and socket plate; substantially as described.

5. In a casket handle or the like, the combination of a bail having a hanger arm of generally semi-tubular form, a trunnion extending through both walls of the hanger arm and directed laterally from said hanger arm at one side, a socket plate having a boss which receives the laterally extending portion of said trunnion, and means interposed between the hanger arm and the front face of the socket plate for preventing disconnection of the bail and socket plate, said 7 means comprising a tongue struck up from the socket plate into blocking relation with respect to one of the side Walls of the hanger arm; substantially as described.

6. In a casket handle or the like, the combination of separate socket plates with bearings therein, a bail having trunnions extending toward the respective ends of the handle and engaging said bearings, and means located between the front surface of each socket plate and the adjacent part of the bail for preventing the separation of the bail and plate before the handle is applied to the casket or box; substantially as described.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand on the 13th day of June, 1916.

' JULIUS E. BROOKS.

five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner 0! Patents,

Washington, I). G. 

